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Griffin P. Rodgers, MD, MMSc
National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Md

George J. Heymach, MD, PhD, FCCP
University of Pittsburgh

JAMA. 1986;256(14):1892-1893.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

We read with great interest the recent review by Dr Sperry¹ on amniotic fluid embolism. His commentary on the LANDMARK ARTICLE by Steiner and Lushbaugh² as well as his subsequent discussions of the diagnosis and pathogenesis of this disorder are thorough and commendable.

With respect to treatment of amniotic fluid embolization (AFE), however, we would like to add a few additional comments. It appears clear that the three gross effects of AFE (namely, the pulmonary vascular obstruction with subsequent decrease in cardiac output and systemic blood pressure, the pulmonary hypertension with acute cor pulmonale, and the gross ventilation/ perfusion inequalities with resulting severe hypoxia) are reminiscent of the clinical status observed in a number of patients following trauma or during the course of septic shock.^3,4

In these clinical settings an impairment in reticuloendothelial clearance of circulating microaggregates and perhaps immune complexes appears to lead . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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